We like to craft, but we don't just knit, as some people would have you believe. No, we dye fabrics, etch glass, paint pictures, make masks … We'll put our hand to anything in the workshops put on by Age Concern at the Great Croft centre in Camden, London.

On Mondays we make jewellery, and over the past few months we have been working on necklaces, bracelets and keyrings. We make lots of our own beads from scratch and are planning to sell some of our work at the King's Cross County Show at Corams Fields on July 18 to raise some much-needed money for the centre.

Polymer clay beads

Isabella Reid. Photograph: Felix Clay Felix Clay/Guardian

Remember the clay that you modelled then baked in the oven? Children loved it, especially those who grew up in the 1980s. Instead of using it to make mini sculptures, we use it to make beads.

We work with Fimo, the best-known polymer clay brand. For a very basic, solid-colour bead, roll it about it your hands to soften it up, roll it into a ball, then poke a cocktail stick through the middle to make a hole. Keep it threaded on the cocktail stick, lay this across the indents of a cup cake/muffin tray (to stop it from touching the sides) then bake in the oven according to the instructions on the packet.

But solid coloured beads aren't the best things we have made. We like to make marble-effect beads. This involves mixing two or three colours of clay together - you can find some really good instructions on this how-to website.

Isabella created some really wonderful large beads (shown above) by rolling two different-coloured clays into thin sausage shapes. She then twisted these together and rolled them into one long sausage, mixing the colours as she went. Finally, she wrapped this into a coil, leaving a little gap in the centre so she could wrap her thread through.

Frugal beads

John North-East. Photograph: Felix Clay Felix Clay/Guardian

This is jewellery-making for people with empty wallets - it turns a humble potato into a handful of colourful beads.

Peel your potato and cut it into 1cm cubes (or use mini cookie cutters to get star, heart or flower shapes). Thread three or four cubes on to a cocktail stick and leave these in a dry, warm area for about a week, turning them at least once every day.

Once completely dry, give the beads a coat or two of paint, and finish with a layer of varnish to seal.

To make bigger beads, cut larger cubes (these will need longer to dry). To make beads with bigger holes, thread them on to two cocktail sticks rather than one.

Knotting

Jeane Smith. Photograph: Felix Clay Felix Clay/Guardian

Rather than just threading beads on to a piece of leather, string or thread, we use a series of knots to make a more interesting necklace.

1. Take two pieces of leather thong or cord - these should be at twice as long as you want your final necklace to be.

2. Thread a large bead on to your two pieces of cord. Tie a knot in the cord to keep it in place. You might need to tie another knot on top of it if the bead has a large hole.

3. Split the two pieces of cord - thread a smaller bead on to one piece and another small bead on to the other piece.

4. Tie another knot in the two pieces of cord to hold these two beads in place. Thread another large bead on.

Knotting. Photograph: Felix Clay Felix Clay/Guardian

5. Continue doing this until you have knotted and threaded as much of the necklace as you want. Then, either tie a necklace fastening to each end, tie a basic knot, or, for a necklace that is adjustable, tie a slip knot.

6. Once you have mastered the simple knots, you can have a go at something more complex.